


Keep Your Enemies Closer

by evilwriter37



Category: DreamWorks Dragons (Cartoon), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Broken Bones, Burns, F/M, Kissing, M/M, Mentions of Death, Moral Dilemmas, Pillow Talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:14:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23653654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilwriter37/pseuds/evilwriter37
Summary: Hiccup finds Viggo after the volcano eruption and nurses him back to health. Through this healing, Viggo begins to change, and Hiccup has newfound feelings that he doesn't know what to do with.
Relationships: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Astrid Hofferson, Viggo Grimborn/Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III
Comments: 15
Kudos: 92





	Keep Your Enemies Closer

Hiccup was surveying the island after the volcano eruption when he saw a body. They’d been seeing a lot of bodies after the fight with the Dragon Hunters, ones that were washing up on the beaches, bloated from the water. This one was different though. It was near the volcano, and it looked familiar. 

“Come on, Toothless. Let’s check it out.” These past few days had been morbid ones. They’d been piling the bodies of the Hunters onto mass pyres and burning them. Hiccup felt dirty from handling them, felt like there was a stain on his soul. He was the reason these people were washing up on their beaches, the reason that they were now dead. Yes, they had been enemies, but they had had lives of their own, and now those lives were gone.

But a body near the volcano was strange. How had it gotten up so high? What was going on?

Hiccup swooped in on Toothless, quickly hopped off and went up to the body to inspect it. Yes, he knew it. He knew it very well, with that dark hair and black armor. This body was different than the others.

It was breathing.

“V-Viggo?” Hiccup tentatively held out his hand to touch him. How… how was he alive? Hiccup had seen him fall into the volcano. And then it had erupted. How was he here in front of him, breathing?

The man groaned, moved his head, and Hiccup was able to get a closer look at his face. It made him gasp and stumble back. Atrocious burns covered the left side of his face, from his brow, down over his cheek. They looked horribly painful. 

Hiccup didn’t know what to do. Before this man had taken Astrid and tried to trade her for the Dragon Eye, he’d said that he respected him. Had that been a farce, or the truth? Had he been saying it to make him lower his guard and trust him? What was Hiccup to do? He couldn’t just leave him here! That would make him just like Viggo. 

Mind made up, Hiccup did his best to get the man onto Toothless. He was heavy, especially since he was dead weight, unconscious, unable to help Hiccup with this. Finally, Hiccup got him slung over Toothless’ back, and he climbed on behind. This way, he’d be able to make sure that he didn’t slide off. 

Toothless made a confused sound at him.

“What else would you have me do?” Hiccup asked. He felt horribly conflicted, but he couldn’t just leave Viggo here to die, even after what he’d done to him and his friends. He’d killed his own brother for him. Or, maybe that had been for himself. It probably was, now that Hiccup thought of it. 

Toothless just grumbled unhappily, but he took off anyway, heading back to the base.

Hiccup had no idea how he was going to explain this to his friends. 

  
  


After getting Viggo into his bed and leaving a cup of water for him just in case he woke up, Hiccup went to the clubhouse to find his friends. He knew he had to tend to Viggo and his burns, but he wanted to talk to them first. Besides, Fishlegs knew a good deal about healing herbs. He could be helpful. If any of them wanted to help…

His friends looked up dismally when Hiccup entered the clubhouse. This business of taking care of bodies was wearing on all of them. They were splotched with soot. 

“What’s up?” Astrid asked as Hiccup stood there and rubbed at the back of his neck. He was probably making a face like he meant to say something.

“Well, I, uh, found something when I was out surveying the island,” Hiccup said. “Some _ one _ .”

Now he had all of the Riders’ attention. They were stopping their various activities to look at him.

“Who?” Snotlout asked.

“I, well, I don’t know how he’s alive,” Hiccup said. “I saw him fall. I swear I did!”

“Hiccup,  _ who  _ is it?” Astrid pressed.

“Viggo.”

Gasps from his friends. They were all gathering around him now. 

“What?”

“Where is he?”

“Are you sure he’s alive?”

“Guys, guys, calm down.” Hiccup stayed them off with two hands. “Yes, he’s alive. He’s, uh, he’s in my hut.”

“Hiccup, what are you doing?” Ruffnut asked. “We can’t trust him.”

“Yeah, slit his throat,” Tuffnut said.

“Tuffnut!” Hiccup exclaimed. They all gave him a look.

Tuffnut chuckled awkwardly. “Kidding. I was kidding.”

“Yeah, I know he can’t be trusted,” Hiccup said. “But he’s unconscious and hurt and I didn’t know what else to do. Maybe we can help him.”

“And when he’s better he’ll just go back to trying to kill all of us!” Snotlout cried. He threw up his hands. “Fantastic!”

Astrid had her lips pursed, looking like she was thinking.

“Astrid, what is it?” Hiccup asked. 

“This is a bad idea, Hiccup,” she told him. 

“Okay, then tell me what I’m supposed to do. Leave him for dead? Let his body decompose? Who knows? Maybe we can get him onto our side.”

“How?” Fishlegs asked.

“By showing him kindness,” Hiccup said. “By not leaving him like this.”

Snotlout snorted. “You think kindness is going to change Viggo Grimborn?”

“I don’t know,” Hiccup said. “What I  _ do  _ know is that Viggo’s hurt really bad and needs help.  _ Our  _ help. If you don’t want to help, I understand, but I’m going to.” Hiccup turned away, planning on going back to his hut. He was thinking of what he needed for Viggo. He’d tended to burns before, but never anything this bad. Maybe Fishlegs had a salve.

“I’ll come with you,” Fishlegs said, jogging to catch up with him. “What kind of injuries does he have?”

“Burns,” Hiccup answered. “Bad ones on his face and his right hand.”

“How did he survive?” Fishlegs asked. 

“I don’t know.” Hiccup shrugged. “But we need to get his armor off and see if he has more injuries. Do you have anything for burns?”

“Yeah, a chamomile salve. I’ll go get it.” Fishlegs rushed off to his hut, and Hiccup headed to his. He felt nervous about all this. What if Viggo was awake when he got back? What would happen when he woke up?

Hiccup had left Toothless to guard Viggo, and not much had changed from when he’d left. Viggo was unconscious on his bed, looking much too large in it, and Toothless was sitting by the bed, teeth bared.

“Toothless, can you stop with the teeth?” Hiccup asked. He sat and began to remove Viggo’s boots. “He’s out cold. And injured.”

Toothless made a grumbling sound, clearly unhappy about this whole situation, but retracted his teeth. 

Hiccup was unclasping Viggo’s armor by the time Fishlegs entered his hut. 

“Uh, Astrid’s outside with her axe,” Fishlegs said. 

“Fantastic.” Hiccup rolled his eyes. “You work on getting his armor off. I’ll go talk to her.”

Fishlegs gasped when he came up the stairs and saw Viggo, nearly dropping the jar he held. His face went a little green.

“I know you told me his burns were bad, but oh Thor!” 

“Don’t look at them then,” Hiccup said. He patted Fishlegs on the shoulder, then went down the stairs to talk to Astrid.

“What are you doing?” he asked her once he came outside, folding his arms over his chest. 

“Standing guard,” Astrid said. “If he tries anything, just yell.”

Hiccup found himself rolling his eyes again. “He’s in no state to try anything, Astrid. We’ll be fine.” 

“Yeah, but if he does-”

“I get it, I get it. You’ll be here. Thank you.”

Looking proud of herself, a hand on her hip, axe at her shoulder, Astrid said: “You’re welcome.” 

Hiccup went back inside and up the stairs. Fishlegs had managed to get Viggo’s armor and top layers of clothing off. Hiccup didn’t see any injury, but he suspected that there might be some on his other side. Together, he and his friend carefully rolled Viggo over. Yep. His back revealed, Hiccup saw blue and purple bruising on either side of his spine. 

“That looks bad, Hiccup,” Fishlegs said anxiously. “Maybe one of us should go get Gothi.”

“You  _ know  _ Gothi would never treat him,” Hiccup said. “Not after what he’s done to Berk.” 

“Right, right.”

“Besides, you’re pretty good at healing, right?” 

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“So, heal him.” Hiccup gestured to Viggo with both hands. It was odd seeing the man like this, no armor, skin showing, unconscious. He was so vulnerable. Hiccup could feel a dark desire born of anger swelling up, a horrible, vicious thing, but he tamped it down. Those desires had no place in his mind.

“Okay, um…” Fishlegs put his hands very gently on Viggo’s naked back. He felt around for about a minute or so before declaring that three of his ribs were broken.

“He’s still alive though, so that’s good,” Fishlegs said. “And there’s no blood on his lips. They haven’t pierced anything important. I don’t think I have to set them. He probably shouldn’t be laying on his back, but we have to take care of his face.”

“I’ll deal with that,” Hiccup said, picking up the jar of salve from where Fishlegs had put it on the nightstand. He knew that the wound on Viggo’s face disturbed his friend. “You deal with his hand.”

Hiccup felt uneasy touching Viggo’s face, especially his wound, but he had to help him. He felt sick from looking at it, at seeing flesh that was burned red and warped like it had been nothing but candle wax. He touched it very gingerly when applying the salve, not wanting to wake him, or hurt him. 

Once the salve was applied to the burns, they bandaged them, then applied ice to the bruising on his back. Fishlegs mixed up a potion for pain, and they left it on the bedside table. 

“Where will you sleep tonight?” Fishlegs asked. Night had fallen outside while they worked.

“Here,” Hiccup said. He had some blankets and furs in a chest that he could use as a makeshift bed. “I can’t leave him alone. What if he wakes up?”

“How will you explain all this to him?” Fishlegs seemed very nervous about having Viggo here. 

“I have no idea,” Hiccup answered. “I guess I’ll figure it out when I get there.” 

  
  


Viggo awoke in a world of ice and fire. Or, that’s what it felt like until he came to his senses. There was something freezing cold on his back, and his face and right hand burned like nothing he’d ever felt before. So yes, in a way, still a world of ice and fire. 

He groaned, tried moving, but couldn’t. The only time he could remember hurting this badly was when he’d gotten the slashes on his neck from that Monstrous Nightmare. And that had been over twenty five years ago. He hadn’t experienced pain this bad since. 

Where was he? he wondered. The last he could remember was scrambling madly away from the volcano as it erupted, trying to avoid more burning lava, falling unconscious outside somewhere. But where he was felt relatively comfortable. There was a soft light, as if from a candle. He went to open his eyes, but only his right one would open. His left seemed to be under bandages. He gave the place a look around in the candlelight, though he couldn’t figure out much. He was met with a wooden wall and some chests. 

Though, the longer he looked, the more details he could see. There were pictures hanging on the wall, pictures of a very specific dragon: a Night Fury.

Hiccup? Had Hiccup saved him? But why would he after everything he’d done to him, his Riders, and his tribe? What if all of this was just a dream?

But still, Viggo had to try something.

“Hiccup?” His voice came out hoarsely. It hurt to breathe and he wanted to cough but knew that he shouldn’t. His voice reflected all of his hurts, and he hated the way it sounded. Weak. He sounded weak, and that’s because he was. 

Running steps that he’d heard before: a foot and a metal prosthetic. Though, he’d never heard those steps running  _ towards  _ him before. 

“Viggo? Are you awake? How did you know-?”

“Your drawings on the wall,” Viggo said wryly. Hiccup must have been on his other side, because he couldn’t see him. He was laying on his stomach on what appeared to be a bed. 

“Here, let me get this ice off of you,” Hiccup said. He began removing the ice blocks from Viggo’s back, and Viggo could hear them thunk into a bucket where he’d leave them to melt. He’d have to rely on hearing much more now, it would seem. Was he blind in his left eye? He wanted to find out now, but he knew that the bandage probably had to stay on. 

“Why are you helping me?” Viggo asked. 

“Because I had to,” Hiccup told him. “I couldn’t just leave you there.”

“Why? Afraid I might hurt a fly?”

“Afraid you might  _ die _ .” 

That hit Viggo in his chest. Not the part about dying. He’d faced his own mortality before. It was the part about Hiccup not  _ wanting  _ him to die. After all that he’d done to him and his tribe, he hadn’t just left him to die. He hadn’t wanted him to. He remembered Hiccup rushing towards him as he fell into the volcano, and it had been to save him. Damn, his heart was pure, so pure it made Viggo’s  _ ache _ . 

Hiccup, luckily, didn’t demand an answer from him. He just said: “Here. Let me help you sit up.” 

Viggo did. The action was painful. He realized he was without his armor and only in his pants. He felt vulnerable. Hiccup wouldn’t hurt him, but what of his dragon? His friends? How did they feel about all of this? 

Viggo didn’t get a chance to ask, as Hiccup was making him drink a potion that was undoubtedly for the pain. Then he began wrapping bandages around his torso, not speaking to him, not meeting his gaze. An air of discomfort hung in the room. 

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Viggo told him. He said this looking Toothless directly in the eye. He wanted the Night Fury to know this as well.

“I know.” 

“Then why not hold conversation with me, my dear?”

Hiccup tied off the bandages, stood straight, crossed his arms. “Because of that.”

“Because of what?”

“The whole ‘my dear’ thing,” Hiccup said. “I’m not your  _ dear _ . I’m your enemy.”

“Then why are you helping me?” 

Hiccup looked tongue-tied, lost for an answer. Viggo just smirked at him. He’d won this little game. 

“Well, we don’t have to be enemies,” Hiccup said. He sat down on the edge of the bed.

“We have fundamental differences in thinking,” Viggo told him. “About dragons, about ways of life, about people.”

“They can change, you know.” He was looking at the floor.

“Mine or yours?”

“Yours.”

Viggo laughed lightly despite the pain in his ribs. “I doubt that’s going to happen.” He didn’t want to start an argument right now, especially with someone as fiery as Hiccup, so he looked around the room, trying to find something to talk about. “So this is where you live?”

“Yes.”

“I like the art.”

Hiccup frowned at him. 

“Where’s everyone else? I’m surprised I don’t have five blades at my throat right now.”

“It’s the middle of the night.” Hiccup stood, turned his back to him. “But Astrid is probably still standing guard outside.”

Viggo nodded to Toothless. “I see your Night Fury doesn’t trust me.”

“He doesn’t have very good reason to.” 

“Fair. Now, why only Astrid? I thought your whole group would be up in arms over this.”

“They’re not happy about it,” Hiccup answered. “Astrid least of all. Tuffnut joked about slitting your throat.”

“So is your dragon here to guard against me, or them?” Viggo couldn’t help wondering.

“Both, I guess.” Hiccup turned back to him. His face was in hard lines, but it softened a little. “How are you feeling?”

Viggo didn’t want to answer honestly. He just frowned. That hurt his face.  _ Everything  _ was hurting his face. He felt exhausted too, just wanted to lay back down and go to sleep…

“Hiccup… Is this your bed?”

Hiccup’s face flushed. “Um, yeah. It is.” He rubbed at the back of his neck, cleared his throat awkwardly. 

“Then where are you sleeping?” Viggo tried not to think about the fact that he was in the bed of the man whose bed he’d wanted to be in together with. He found himself having that thought anyway. Though, of course, nothing could happen now. He was much too injured. 

Hiccup shrugged. “The floor.”

“My dea- Hiccup,” he caught himself. “You don’t have to do that for me.” 

“I’d do it for anyone.” Hiccup’s voice was scathing with his next words. “You’re not special.” 

With that, he went down the stairs, leaving Viggo alone in the loft with Toothless. 

Viggo looked to the dragon, who growled at him when he did. Viggo just raised his hands in innocence. He was hardly in a fit state to cause any harm. And, he was finding that he didn’t want to, not after Hiccup had saved him. How was that any way to repay a host? 

Viggo looked to the nightstand, saw a cup of water, reached over with his left hand, and took a drink. That was surprisingly refreshing. Well, he had been in the heat of a volcano. His throat felt parched. 

He stopped to think. Hiccup claimed they were enemies, but he had saved him. Why? Viggo certainly wouldn’t have done the same for someone he considered an enemy. He didn’t know if he’d even do the same for someone he considered a friend. 

He realized he had a problem. He didn’t know if he could lay back down without assistance. Though, he didn’t want to call Hiccup for said assistance. He felt weak, and he didn’t want to feel weak.

Well, he certainly couldn’t ask the dragon for help. He’d just figure it out on his own.

After a painful minute of maneuvering around, he managed to lay down on his stomach. Laying down on his back was out of the question with his hurt ribs. He wondered if they were broken. He should have asked Hiccup about his wounds. Ah, it was no matter. He’d find out tomorrow. He closed his eyes. He expected to not drift easily into sleep, as he usually didn’t, but a minute or so passed and he was falling easily into sleep. His last thought was that it must have been the potion for pain.

  
  


Hiccup didn’t sleep well that night. He kept having nightmares about Viggo, specifically him doing things to him in his sleep, things he didn’t want to think about. He woke up near dawn and, unable to get back to sleep, decided to go check up on Astrid.

He found her still outside his hut, sitting, head lowered in sleep. Stormfly was sleeping curled around her. They were both light sleepers, and woke when they heard the sound of Hiccup’s footsteps. Astrid’s first instinct was to go for her axe, but Hiccup quietly put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. There was no need for it.

“How… is he?” Astrid asked tentatively, clearly feeling strange about the question. 

“He woke up at one point,” Hiccup responded. “Was feeling well enough to drink and talk.”

“What’d he say to you?”

“Not much. Just that he wouldn’t hurt me.” Their conversation had been much more confusing than that, but Hiccup didn’t know how to explain. This situation was a moral conundrum, and he was dealing with it the best he could. Or, he thought he was. 

“And you believe him?”

“Yeah. For now.” Hiccup ran a hand through his hair, realizing he’d forgotten to comb it before coming outside. He sat down on the ground by Astrid, let his hands dangle at his knees. “He’s badly burned and has three broken ribs.”

Astrid winced a little. “That’s gotta hurt.”

“Yeah.” Hiccup looked away, towards where the sun would rise. There was pink flickering on the horizon. “This is all so strange.”

“It is.”

“But I couldn’t just leave him there. You know that, right, Astrid?” He looked to her.

“It’s very… you,” she said after some time in thought. “Always willing to help people no matter how they’ve wronged you.”

“But this isn’t just about me,” Hiccup said. “He’s hurt all of us. He’s hurt all of Berk.” He thought back to how he’d felt staring at Viggo unconscious and shirtless, how he’d wished he’d had a knife in his hand, how he’d wished to finish it. 

“He has,” Astrid said pointedly. 

“But what kind of person would I be if I left others for dead? That’s just as good as killing them myself.”

Astrid put a hand on Hiccup’s shoulder. “I know how you feel about killing, but sometimes-”

“Promise me you won’t do anything to him.”

“Hiccup, I-”

Hiccup stared her hard in the eye. “ _ Promise  _ me.”

Astrid sighed, lowered her hand, looked away from him. 

“I promise. I won’t.”

“Good.” Hiccup stood, stretched and yawned. “How about a morning flight?”

“Then who will guard Viggo?”

“He can’t even get out of bed,” Hiccup said. “I think we’re safe.”

  
  


Hiccup went to check on Viggo after his flight with Astrid. Being in the air had been refreshing, and he’d had more time to think about his stance on all this. He was firm on it. He would heal Viggo. Besides, what power did he have now? Stuck in bed, tribe ravaged by the war, brother and general dead. No, he had no power. 

Hiccup didn’t know if he’d want to eat, but he brought him food anyway. He’d never seen Viggo eat before, but he was sure he had to. Something so human seemed beneath him, in a way. This man didn’t  _ feel  _ human. 

Viggo was awake and staring at the wall with his one good eye when Hiccup returned, Toothless by his side. He didn’t need the protection, but it was nice to have his friend with him.

“I brought you something to eat,” Hiccup said. “I figured you must be hungry.”

“A little peckish, I admit.”

“I’ll help you sit up.”

Hiccup put the tray down on the nightstand, then went to help Viggo. It was odd touching his naked skin. He was warm to the touch, another thing Hiccup found strange. It was a reminder that hot blood flowed through him, the same color as the blood that flowed through Hiccup - another reminder that he was human. 

Once Viggo was sitting up, Hiccup took a chair and sat by him. He didn’t know why. He could leave and have Toothless guard him, but he felt like he had to stay. 

“What are you thinking about?” Viggo asked as he began to eat.

“Why I’m doing this.” Hiccup narrowed his eyes at him, feeling slight sparks of anger. “You hurt me, my Riders, my tribe.”

Viggo looked down at the roll in his hands. “Well, for that, I do hope this isn’t poisoned.”

“It’s not. Do you really think I’m the type of person to poison my guests?” Hiccup was aghast.

“No, I don’t.” Viggo took another bite. “You’re not nearly as ruthless as I.”

“Good. I’d rather be kind.” Hiccup raised his eyebrows at Viggo. “Do you even know what kindness is?”

“It’s something people treat each other with from time to time,” Viggo answered. “Something that won’t get you far in life.”

“And yet here I am. I won the war, Viggo.” Hiccup felt a triumph at being able to tell him this. Yes, he’d won. The Dragon Eye had been destroyed and he’d laid waste to the Dragon Hunters’ forces. They wouldn’t be bothering them anymore, especially not with their leader cooped up here. 

“You only have power because of your station in life,” Viggo told him with derision.

“And you don’t?” Hiccup crossed his arms, feeling insulted. He’d won his friends over with kindness. He’d won Dagur and Alvin over. Kindness had gotten him far in life. 

“Oh, that certainly helped,” Viggo said. He coughed, and a grimace crossed his features. “But my empire never would have gotten to the size it became with kindness. I never would have lived so long.”

Hiccup stood, balled his hands into fists. “You’re not alive because of you. You’re alive because of  _ me _ . If I want you dead, you’re dead. Got it?” Hiccup controlled his life now, and he wanted Viggo to realize that, wanted him to realize that he was vulnerable and powerless in this situation. Hiccup’s dark desires rose up again, the need to see blood run because of all that had happened, but he tamped it down. 

Viggo’s one eye went wide. He swallowed roughly, nodded. He probably hadn’t expected this part of Hiccup. Hiccup hadn’t expected it either. 

“Now finish your food so that Fishlegs and I can redress your bandages.” Hiccup stomped off to go get his friend, leaving Toothless to guard Viggo, though he was now powerless. And they both knew it.

  
  


Viggo didn’t know how to feel when the bandages came off his face. The ruined flesh felt a little sticky, as if a salve had been applied to it. He opened his left eye, fearing what he would see… or not see. 

Blackness. Like when he’d had the bandages on. He thought maybe his eye needed some time to adjust, but after painfully blinking a few times, it became clear. He was blind in his left eye. 

Viggo wanted to shout, to swear, to scream, to do  _ something  _ other than just sit there, but all he did was wave his hand in front of his face, saw it flit in and out of sight. Half blind. Gods, he was more helpless than he’d thought. Hiccup’s earlier words rang in his head.  _ If I want you dead, you’re dead.  _ He’d never heard his voice sound so cold and cruel before. It made fear slither like ice into his stomach, even as it stirred warmth inside of him that felt almost like pride. 

“Can you… see out of that eye?” Hiccup asked. He must have pointed, but Viggo didn’t see him do it.

Viggo shook his head. “It appears I’m half blind. Oh, the irony.”

“Irony?” Fishlegs squeaked. He was clearly still terrified of him despite his current predicament.

“My blindness to my brother’s schemes is what caused all of this,” Viggo said. “I suppose it’s only fitting that I go through the rest of my life with a reminder of that.” He chuckled, though he didn’t feel any amusement at all. He didn’t want to let on to Hiccup and his friend how devastated he was really feeling. Currently, it felt like the loss of sight was going to drive him mad. 

Hiccup and Fishlegs didn’t say anything to that. They just began applying the salve, Hiccup being brave enough to touch his face, Fishlegs only doing his hand. It hurt, but Viggo was okay with that. This would help in the long run, though he would no doubt come out of this with horrible scarring. He almost wanted a mirror to see how he looked, but he knew that currently the sight would only demoralize him. 

Viggo didn’t say anything as they applied the salve. He was just thinking. It was astonishing that Hiccup didn’t want him dead, that he was taking care of him instead. What would be the culmination of this? Where would Viggo go once all was said and done?

He supposed he could think about that at another time. Now, he just had to focus on healing. 

And how nice Hiccup’s hands were. His fingers were slender and long, his palms wide-set, the skin calloused from work and fighting. They were beautiful hands, and they were currently touching him in a way much more intimate than any of their previous touches had been. He was touching his  _ face _ . 

Viggo grit his teeth in pain though, and in frustration. He wanted nothing more than to call Hiccup “my dear” and have him respond without anger. He wanted that “dear” to become true, but Hiccup had stated the truth. They were enemies. Viggo couldn’t help thinking that, had they been on the same side of things, they would have been very good friends… or more than that. 

  
  


“I want to see him.”

“Heather, no.” Hiccup put a hand on the warrior’s shoulder to stay her. She’d returned from her journey to Berk to report to Stoick what had happened, and the Riders had filled her in on the situation with Viggo. Her instant reaction was anger. “Only Fishlegs and I are allowed in.”

“Why? Think we’ll hurt him?” Tuffnut asked.

Hiccup turned to him. “You joked about slitting his throat while he slept!”

“Okay, yeah, I… might have done that.”

“I just want to talk,” Heather told Hiccup. There was fire in her eyes and her jaw was tightly set.

“And I’m sorry if I don’t believe you,” Hiccup said. He scratched his head. “Look, this is a very delicate situation. He’s badly hurt. We can’t just have anyone barging in there.”

“But-” Heather started.

“ _ No _ ,” Hiccup intoned with as much authority as he could, and that was a lot, given his position. 

Heather lowered her axe, then sheathed it, looking upset. She stormed out of the room, though Hiccup was sure she was going to her own hut and not his. It wasn’t like her to directly defy his orders like that. At least, not so soon after he’d spoken them. He sighed, lowered his head into one hand. This situation was stressful enough without the constant pestering of his Riders. 

“Hiccup, what are we going to do with him once he’s healed and, you know, able to kill us?” Snotlout asked.

“I haven’t gotten that far,” Hiccup answered tiredly, turning back to face the assembled Riders. “I’m hoping he’ll change.”

“Chamomile salve won’t change someone’s heart, Hiccup,” Fishlegs said gently. 

Hiccup made a growling sound in his throat. “You don’t know that.” 

Astrid snorted. She was sharpening her axe. Hiccup knew she was thinking of it chopping at Viggo’s exposed neck. “You thought he changed before, and then look what he did. Those injuries are  _ his  _ fault.” She stamped the haft of her axe down on the floor in frustration. Of course Astrid held a grudge against him. He’d caught her by surprise and had tried trading her for the Dragon Eye. If not, he had been going to kill her. It was only Hiccup’s quick thinking that had saved her and stopped him from having to make the trade. 

“Maybe, but-”

“Hiccup, this is fucking ridiculous,” Ruffnut said. “He’s going to kill us all in our sleep.”

“He won’t!” Hiccup didn’t know why he was so sure of that. Maybe it was because he’d asserted his dominance over him. Maybe it was because they had dragons. Maybe it was something else. He waved a hand dismissively, turned, and left the clubhouse. He was done with hearing all this. 

There was only one person to go to. Hopefully he was awake. 

Hiccup found him sitting up in his bed, a book in hand. Lines of frustration creased his face. 

“Trying to read?” Hiccup asked. 

“The blindness is making it especially difficult,” Viggo said. He sighed, lowered the book. “You look stressed.”

Hiccup sat. He didn’t know why he was talking to Viggo about this, but he felt that he had no one else to go to.

“The Riders are driving me crazy,” Hiccup said. “They all think you’re going to kill me and all of them when you’re better.”

Viggo laughed, and it sounded genuine, but then it ended in coughing and groaning, his right hand going to his ribs. 

“My d- um, Hiccup, I’ve never wanted you dead.”

Hiccup snorted. “Funny way of showing it.” But, even as Hiccup said it, he realized that Viggo was right. Not once had this man genuinely tried to kill him. He always captured him, threatened him with torture, but never death. 

“I mean it,” Viggo said. “The world would be losing a great mind. I wasn’t lying when I said I respect you.”

Hiccup sat straight in his chair. He felt funny with Viggo saying all this. He couldn’t tell if he was just trying to flatter him to make him let his guard down. Somehow, he felt that it was true though. 

“I… don’t know how I feel about you,” Hiccup answered honestly.

“That’s alright, my boy. Feelings are complicated. Especially between enemies.” Viggo’s eye twinkled with something that looked like amusement, and Hiccup didn’t quite understand it. “Now, Toothless here has been getting restless. I suggest you take him out for a flight before he knocks the whole house down over us.” Viggo gestured to Toothless as he said it. The dragon started wiggling at the mention of a flight. Hiccup could see that Viggo was right. His dragon didn’t want to sit guard duty anymore. 

“I’ll leave Astrid as a guard outside,” Hiccup said. “You’re not to touch her.”

“Hiccup, I can’t even move from the bed.”

“Good.”

Hiccup stood, gestured to Toothless to follow him, and left.

  
  


Hiccup lay with Astrid in her bed. His girlfriend was pressed against him, tracing imaginary designs over his naked chest. Hiccup had his arms wrapped around her. 

“This is all so strange,” Astrid said.

“The thing with Viggo?” Hiccup didn’t necessarily want to talk about it while naked in bed with his girlfriend, but if Astrid wanted to talk, he would let her.

“Mm hm.”

It had been a week since finding him. He could walk around a little bit, but was weakened by his injuries. He spent all of his time resting, or frustratedly trying to read one of Hiccup’s books. The blindness in one eye seemed to be steadily driving him mad. He was learning how to cope with it though. Hiccup could imagine how he felt. It was like when he’d woken up to find he was missing part of his left leg. He’d had to adjust his lifestyle to accommodate that, and Viggo had to do the same.

“He seems… gentler somehow,” Hiccup said. “Like the cruelty was burned out of him.”

“I doubt that.”

Hiccup sighed. “Would it kill you to see the good in people?”

Astrid laughed a little. “Yeah, probably.”

They fell silent. Astrid laid her head against his chest, wrapped an arm around him. Hiccup was happy with how comfortable with each other they were. They’d only started having sex recently, but it felt like something they’d been doing for a long time, something natural with each other. 

Hiccup started thinking of something, something that had been poking at the edge of his mind ever since finding Viggo.

“I’m pretty sure he’s attracted to me,” Hiccup said. He didn’t have to say his name. They both knew who he was talking about. 

“Ya think?” Astrid asked.

Hiccup looked down at her. “Wait, you've noticed?”

“Yeah.” Astrid lifted her head. “He calls you ‘my dear’. People don’t just say that to each other. And he doesn’t say it to anyone else.”

Hiccup frowned. “I don’t know how I feel about it.” He didn’t know how he felt about a lot of things concerning Viggo. It left him with a strange numbness. Sometimes anger would come and replace that, but those instances were becoming less. He was starting to see Viggo as a fellow human being, as a person with a soul rather than a heartless monster. Maybe he was heartless - he most definitely had been - but Hiccup was determined to put a real heart in him.

“That’s okay,” Astrid said. She took his chin in one hand. “You don’t have to figure it out if you can’t or don’t want to.” She kissed him gently. “Now, have any plans for the rest of the day?”

Hiccup grinned, kissed her. “I was hoping we could spend a little more time here.” One hand caressed her hip, then went down between her legs.

Astrid gasped, pulled him closer. “That’s alright with me.”

  
  


Viggo’s feelings for Hiccup had grown more tender. They’d grown from a mere attraction to something else Viggo didn’t want to put a word to. Hiccup’s touches were so careful and even caring. He was helping him mend, and Viggo wouldn’t have wanted anyone else to help him in such a way. No one else was worthy of seeing him so vulnerable.

Oddly enough, Viggo felt guilty that he had taken Hiccup’s bed from him. He’d learned he’d been sleeping on the floor, or in Astrid’s bed. Though, certainly they did more than just sleep, and that made Viggo unbelievably jealous. These feelings weren’t like him, and they made him feel strange. He’d get flutterings in his chest, his stomach, especially when Hiccup talked to him or touched him. It was all so new to him. Usually he’d faked emotion, but these feelings were genuine. Now, he had to hide them. Hiding things was what he was good at. 

Viggo grew restless being cooped up in Hiccup’s hut. He almost wanted to see the other Riders just to see what they would say to him, but everyone but Hiccup and Fishlegs had been ordered to stay away. They wanted him dead for what he’d done, and Viggo didn’t blame them. 

Toothless had begun to lower his guard around him. He still kept his teeth out, but he seemed much more relaxed, letting himself lay down around him. Though, he wouldn’t sleep in his presence. That made sense after the times Viggo had captured him and Hiccup. Toothless wanted to keep himself and his friend safe.

But there was really no need for any of it. Viggo didn’t want to harm anybody. It was like his cruelty had died. Sometimes it would still flicker to life, like a dying fire being stoked, but then it would dwindle to nothing once again. He was changing, and he didn’t know how to feel about that. 

Maybe it was good. He wasn’t a chief anymore, so his old cruelty wouldn’t get him anywhere. His cold calculations of people and things hardly worked anymore. It felt like he was losing his intelligence among these newfound feelings. He logically knew that he wasn’t, but being ruled by feelings was so new to him. 

Viggo was pacing in Hiccup’s hut. It made breathing a little difficult, but he didn’t want to sit around and waste away, leave his muscles to atrophy. When this was all over, he would return to his weapons training. He missed his sword. It had been taken from him by Ryker, and the gods knew where it was. He certainly didn’t. 

The door slid open and Hiccup entered carrying a tray. “I brought you dinner.” The bringing of food was a regular occurrence, and it made Viggo feel even more for Hiccup. To be treated so kindly by someone who considered him an enemy was new territory for him. This wasn’t what enemies did. 

Hiccup set it down on the table, and Viggo sat before it. He nodded his head in thanks. “Thank you.”

Hiccup sat down across from him. Their discussions were daily, and Hiccup seemed to be softening to him. Still, those words wouldn’t leave his head:  _ If I want you dead, you’re dead.  _ He’d hardly ever seen that ruthless side to Hiccup, though he of course had known it was there. He was a leader. Ruthlessness was part of that. 

“How are you feeling today?” Hiccup inquired.

“Same as yesterday.” Viggo began cutting into his meat. 

“It’s going to take some time,” Hiccup told him. “Weeks.”

Weeks sounded so long. Viggo had already been here for two weeks. He was starting to lose track of the days. He wished he had some way to keep track, but he wasn’t about to deface any of Hiccup’s books with tally marks. 

Speaking of Hiccup’s books, Viggo had tried reading, but it was like he had to reteach his eye how to see properly, how to form the runes together into words. He still had the bandages covering his face and hand. He didn’t know what he looked like. He did know the pain though. He’d become very used to it. 

“What do you plan on doing with me after that?” Viggo asked.

Hiccup shrugged. “Haven’t gotten there yet. You have any ideas?”

“I’ll probably leave,” Viggo answered honestly. “Disappear. Never bother you again. I feel that you would like that.”

Hiccup looked down at the table, seemingly unsure as how to answer.  _ Would  _ Hiccup like that? It sometimes seemed like he wanted him out of his hair, out of his life. 

“I don’t know if I would,” Hiccup said. “For some reason I feel that I’d miss you.”

Viggo smiled wistfully. “I’d miss you too, Hiccup.”

After dinner, they did what they always did: play Maces and Talons. Hiccup won against him, and not because of Viggo’s half blindness. He was getting smarter, learning his strategies. It made Viggo feel oddly proud of him. He was teaching him without trying to, and Hiccup was picking up on his lessons. 

“Another game?” Hiccup asked.

“I’m tired,” Viggo told him. That was new for him too. Usually, his mind raced so much that he couldn’t sleep. He’d once gone four days without a single second of sleep. It must be the injuries, his body telling him that in order to heal, he had to rest. 

Hiccup nodded, began picking up the pieces and putting them back in the box. 

“Do you dream?” Hiccup asked after some time in silence.

“Not really.” Viggo thought that an interesting question. “Do you?”

“A lot,” Hiccup answered. “I’ve been… dreaming about you lately.”

Viggo felt a smile tugging at his lips. “What kinds of dreams?”

“Well, they used to be about you torturing me or surprising me in my sleep,” Hiccup informed him. “But… they’ve changed.” Hiccup looked like he was surprised he was being so honest. His face flushed red. “We kissed.”

Silence. Viggo didn’t know how to react to that. Sometimes, dreams could show fears, or they could show innermost desires. What was this dream showing?

“Was it… good?” 

Hiccup nodded. “No manipulation. No hurting. Just… a kiss.”

“Just a kiss.” Viggo leaned back in his chair. “And how do you feel about that?”

Hiccup shifted uncomfortably. “I’m with Astrid,” he said. “I feel like I betrayed her even though I can’t control what I dream about.”

“Have you told her?”

“No.”

“Then why are you telling me?”

Hiccup didn’t look him in the eye for a long time, but finally, he met his gaze. “Because I felt like I could.”

Viggo just nodded. He had nothing to say to that. He stood. “Well, I wish you good dreams tonight, Hiccup.”

  
  


“Good dreams,” Hiccup whispered to himself as he lay in his makeshift bed on the floor. Toothless was sleeping curled up around him, and his presence was a comfort. Hiccup didn’t feel in danger from Viggo, and it was clear that Toothless no longer did either, though he certainly still held a grudge. 

What had Viggo meant by that? Did he want him to dream about him kissing him? Or did he not want him to?

Hiccup flushed thinking about the dream. Viggo’s lips had been so sure, so comfortable against his own. He’d felt like he’d been kissing Astrid - that’s just how comfortable it had been. And Hiccup had awoken sweating, feeling guilt gnawing at his stomach, confusion meddling with his brain. 

Why had he told Viggo? He had told the truth that he felt like he could tell him, and the conversation had gone better than he’d expected, but now he felt embarrassed for doing so. He should have just kept it to himself, or at least told Astrid. Granted, he could still tell her.

With a sigh, Hiccup shut his eyes, cuddled into Toothless, and prayed for dreamless sleep. 

  
  


His sleep wasn’t dreamless. There were many dreams. Each one was about Viggo. Or, maybe it was all one dream, melded together by the one person they were about. Viggo, Viggo, Viggo. All about him. That seemed to be all his mind could think about, all it could conjure. Hiccup would have liked to dream about Astrid, but no. His subconscious wanted Viggo. 

They kissed. It was a passionate kiss. Viggo had his large hands on Hiccup’s waist, had him pressed against the wall. He was only in his pants. His dream had conjured it because Hiccup knew what he looked like like that now. 

Hiccup was magically undressed, no longer wearing clothes without having even taken them off. That was just how dreams worked. 

And Viggo was inside him. Hiccup didn’t know what that felt like, but his mind tried its best to make it real. They were on his bed together, on their sides facing each other. Hiccup had one leg raised and wrapped around Viggo, and Viggo was thrusting into him. It didn’t hurt. It felt good. Hiccup moaned, and some part of him that knew this was a dream hoped he hadn’t moaned in his sleep. 

Hiccup woke with a start, sweating, his pants feeling too tight. He looked down to see he had a hard on, cursed quietly. There was no way he was going to take care of that with Viggo in the loft above. And it was because of Viggo anyway, because of his dream. It hadn’t been scary, hadn’t left him feeling frightened. And that made him angry. He was with Astrid! Why couldn’t his subconscious think about her? Why did it have to think about his enemy?

But were they enemies anymore? It didn’t feel like it. Their relationship felt more like a friendly one. Viggo had made no threats, no snide, hurtful remarks. He’d been kind to him, though he claimed he hardly knew what kindness was. He was changing, and Hiccup could see it. 

  
  


“I… want to try it,” Hiccup told Viggo after dinner one night, some weeks later. 

“Try what?” Viggo asked.

“Um… kissing.”

“I thought you were with Astrid.” Viggo raised his eyebrow. The bandages were still on his face. His ribs were doing much better at least. 

“She said it was okay,” Hiccup lied. He hadn’t talked to Astrid about any of this, hadn’t known how to. He kept telling himself he would tell her, but he never did.

“What brought this up?” Viggo asked, leaning back in his chair.

“I keep dreaming about it.” Hiccup shifted his legs nervously. He wondered where this was going, if he would get a kiss. “I think that if we finally do it, maybe my mind will stop tormenting me with these dreams.”

“Tormenting you,” Viggo said. “So they’re bad dreams.”

“No, no, they’re not. I just won’t stop having them and it’s driving me crazy.”

“Alright.” Viggo smiled. “I’ll grant you a kiss.”

Viggo stood and came around the table, put a hand under Hiccup’s chin. He leaned down. Their breaths mingled. Anxiety tingled hot in Hiccup’s stomach, but there was something else there too: desire. 

Hiccup’s breath hitched as their lips grew closer together. Viggo met his eyes, silently asking him if this was what he wanted. Hiccup looked to his lips as an affirmative.

Their lips touched. It was gentle, but there was a passion behind Viggo’s touch. Yes, he’d wanted him for a long while, wanted this, and now he was getting it. 

Hiccup put a hand to the unmarred, unbandaged side of Viggo’s face, felt his beard smooth under his palm. He’d never kissed a man before, had never really thought about it, but here he was doing it. 

The kiss lasted a long while. They opened their mouths to each other, teased with tongues, but didn’t go inside. Hiccup felt himself growing warm, heat flushing through his veins.

There was a knock on his door.

Hiccup abruptly pulled back, panting. He looked to the door wide-eyed. 

“I… have to get that,” he told Viggo. He cleared his throat, ran a hand through his hair. He hoped it wasn’t obvious that he’d just been kissing someone. He stood, went to the door, opened it. Astrid was standing there.

“Oh, hey, Astrid.” Hiccup stepped outside and closed the door. He felt awkward now, guilty. He cleared his throat again.

“Something wrong?” Astrid asked. 

“I, just, uh, no. Nothing. What’s up?”

“Just wanted to see you. Want to go for a walk?”

The sun was setting, bursting orange into the sky. A walk with Astrid usually sounded nice, but after what Hiccup had just done, he felt immensely guilty. Though, he would still go on a walk with her. Maybe he could finally talk to her about all of this. 

“Yeah, sure.”

They held hands. Hiccup’s palms were sweating. Hopefully Astrid didn’t notice. If she did, she made no comment. 

They were silent until they left the base and made it into the woods. 

“Astrid, I have to tell you something.”

They stopped, looked at each other, but then Hiccup looked at the ground, scuffed his boot in the dirt.

“What is it?” Astrid asked. She didn’t seem to know how Hiccup was currently feeling. There was no worry in her voice.

“I, uh, um…” Hiccup cleared his throat for the  _ third  _ time. Gods, he felt ridiculous. Why had he done that?  _ Why  _ had he kissed Viggo? “So, I’ve been having dreams lately.”

“About?”

“Viggo. In the dreams, I- we… we kiss.” There. That was one part of it. 

“Are they bad dreams?” Astrid just looked patient.

Hiccup shook his head. “They’ve been confusing the Hel out of me and I just wanted them to stop, so, I, um…” He said his next part so quickly he doubted Astrid understood him: “I kissed Viggo.”

“You what?”

“I… kissed him,” Hiccup said more slowly. “We kissed. I asked him to.”

Astrid blinked, looking perplexed. Hiccup was almost expecting her to slap him, but she didn’t. He went on explaining.

“I thought maybe it would make the dreams stop.”

“So that’s why you did it?”

“Yes.”

“No other reason?”

“No.”

“Is… he a good kisser?”

Hiccup’s face went red. He rubbed at the back of his neck. “Yeah. Yeah, he is.”

“Am I a good kisser?”

Hiccup laughed nervously. “Of course you are, Astrid!” 

Astrid came forward and abruptly pressed her lips to his. The kiss was hot, and Hiccup could feel Astrid’s anger through it. Yes, she was angry with him. Of course she was. He’d kissed someone other than her. This was much better than a slap in the face though. 

“There.” She took his face in both hands. “Get him the fuck out of your head.”

Then, she turned and walked away. Hiccup didn’t follow. He was left alone in the woods as night fell.

  
  


Hiccup didn’t know where to sleep that night. He felt awkward going back to Viggo, and he certainly wasn’t allowed with Astrid at the moment. So, he stayed in the stables with Toothless. It wasn’t very comfortable, and the place smelled of dragon dung, but at least he wouldn’t have to face anyone. 

When he dreamt, he dreamt of Astrid. Finally. No more Viggo.

But then, Viggo was there. They were all in bed together, touching each other, kissing. Hiccup was in between both of them, being lavished with attention and pleasure. 

Astrid leaned in to whisper in his ear.

“Get him the fuck out of your head.”

  
  


Hiccup woke abruptly, breathing hard. Astrid was right. He had to get Viggo out of his head, but how?

Hiccup stayed awake for the rest of the night, pacing, thinking of what to do to get Viggo out of his head. He was spending too much time with him probably, but he felt bad about him being lonely, as he’d forbidden anyone else to talk to him. 

Maybe if he wrote down his dreams…

That seemed to be a good idea. When Hiccup could get his hands on some paper, he would do that. He would just make sure that nobody found it. 

  
  


Viggo looked in the mirror. The bandages had come off his face, and now he could see it for what it really was. The skin was marred and wrinkled, pink with scarring. His left eye was a pale blue, all the color having gone out of it. His eyebrow was surprisingly growing back.

It was ugly. It was so ugly. Viggo didn’t know what to do with this. This kind of scar was permanent. 

“I’m ugly,” Viggo said to Hiccup.

“You’re not,” Hiccup told him. He’d probably gotten used to seeing the injured side of his face. That didn’t mean it wasn’t ugly though.

“It’s horrifying,” Viggo said. “If I didn’t scare people already, this will definitely do it.” He put the mirror down, gestured to his face. 

“You’re not scaring me.”

“Well, you’re used to me.” Viggo had lost track of how many weeks he’d been here. His ribs were all healed, and his face was as healed as it was going to be. He was planning on leaving soon. 

Hiccup jutted out one hip, folded his arms over his chest. “Fine. I admit it takes some getting used to. You’re not ugly though.”

Viggo smirked playfully at him. “Then what am I?”

“I, um, well…” Hiccup looked down at the floor, face going a shade of pink. 

“Never mind that. Tea?” Viggo was trying to brush over how he was feeling about his scar. There was a similar one on his right hand as well. 

“Tea would be nice,” Hiccup said with a nod. 

Viggo set the kettle over the fire, sat down to wait for it to boil. There were some papers on the table. Curiously, he picked one up to look at it.

“No! You’re not supposed to read those!” Hiccup rushed towards him, snatched the paper out of his hand, began quickly gathering up what had been left on the table. Then, he put it in a chest and locked it. 

“What was that?” Viggo asked. The only word he’d seen was his name.

“My, uh, dream journal,” Hiccup answered. “I thought maybe if I wrote them down they would stop.”

“Have they?”

“A little.”

“Still dreaming about me?”

Hiccup didn’t say anything, but the look on his face was enough to tell Viggo that yes, he was still dreaming about him.

“I’m sorry,” Viggo said.

“What?”

“I’m sorry that you can’t get me out of your head. I’m sorry these dreams are tormenting you.” Viggo pursed his lips in thought. “Have you talked to Astrid about it?”

“Yeah.”

“And what did she say?”

“That I have to get you out of my head. She was angry that we kissed.”

“As she has the right to be. She  _ is  _ your lover.”

“I know, I know. I just… I don’t know what I’m feeling.” Hiccup threw up a hand, began pacing. “Astrid wants me to get you out of my head, and I don’t think I can do that unless you leave.” 

“Well, lucky for you, I’m leaving tomorrow.”

Hiccup stopped pacing, looked at him wide-eyed. “T-tomorrow? Do you think you’re ready?”

Viggo nodded. “Yes, I do.”

“Well, we have a ship we can give you,” Hiccup said. “It’s been prepared for a while.” Hiccup’s face fell a little.

“Going to miss me, my dear?” Viggo didn’t stop himself from calling him that this time. He felt like it was the right time for him to say it. And, Hiccup didn’t comment on it, didn’t tell him not to do that.

“I think so,” Hiccup answered.

Viggo planned to do something he’d hardly ever done, something he’d only done with Ryker to feign affection. But this wasn’t feigning it. This was real. He stood, went over to Hiccup, and wrapped him in his arms. Surprisingly, Hiccup leaned into the hug, hugged him back.

“Will you ever visit?” he asked. His voice was small, like a child’s.

“I’ll think about it.” And that was something Viggo had to think about. He didn’t know how the other Riders felt about him, if Hiccup could change their minds about him. Though, he could visit just for Hiccup, the only man he loved and had ever loved. 

The kettle started shrieking. 

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Enemies to Friends, or Something.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26015836) by [rfresa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rfresa/pseuds/rfresa)




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